But, when I first saw the shot below, I didn’t know what I was looking at exactly.

What do you think?

Someone’s having a bad day

In case you’re unsure of what you’re seeing like I was, that’s a monkey being carried away on its ass by a bird.

More specifically, it shows the critically endangered Philippine Eagle returning from a hunt with a Long Tailed Macaque securely (and awkwardly) in its talons. The photo was taken by conservation biologist Kahlil Panopio from the Haribon Foundation during a research expedition in Nueva Ecija last May 2014.

When I asked Kahlil how he felt after that moment he said:

“I was shaking with excitement when I saw what I had taken a picture of. No one has ever seen it here in over 36 years.”

I found out later that Kahlil had even more reason to have a celebratory shiver because…

That awkward moment when you think you know something then realizing that you weren’t even close.

Take away the sunset and what becomes the most visible landmark of Manila Bay?

I would answer the trash on its shores and floating on its chunky exhaust-colored water, just because of the scene I encounter everytime I pass by the area.

You won’t see this beach on any Top 10 travel lists anytime soon. Photo by Kahlil Panopio.

Sadly, because I was born in the 21st century, this is what’s left of it.

This sad state is the sole image of Manila Bay that me, and maybe everyone else, has.

Or is it?

Even after centuries of being a prime location for naval battles between colonizers, a dumpsite for the city’s factories, and for thousands of hectares of reclamation to build Asia’s largest mall, Manila Bay still keeps a part of itself secret.